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Glengarry Glen Ross is a 1992 independent dramatic film, adapted by David Mamet from his acclaimed 1984 Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning play of the same name. The film depicts two days in the lives of four real estate salesmen and how they become desperate when the corporate office sends a representative to "motivate" them by announcing that, in one week, all except the top two salesmen will be fired. The film, like the play, is notorious for its use of profanity, leading the cast to jokingly refer to the film as "Death of a Fuckin' Salesman". The actual title of the film comes from the names of two of the real estate developments being peddled by the salesmen characters (Glengarry Highlands and Glen Ross Farms).

A booth at a Chinese restaurant, Williamson and Levene areseated at the booth.

LEVENE John...John...John. Okay. John. John. Look: (pause) The Glengarry Highland's leads, you're sending Roma out. Fine. He's a good man. We know what he is. He's fine. All I'm saying, you look at the board, he's throwing...wait, wait, wait, he's throwing them away, he's throwing the leads away. All that I'm saying, that you're wasting leads. I don't want to tell you your job. All that I'm saying, things get set, I know they do, you get a certain mindset... A guy gets a reputation. We know how this...all I'm saying, put a closer on the job. There's more than one man for the... Put a...wait a second, put a proven man out...and you watch, now wait a second--and you watch your dollar volumes...You start closing them for fifty 'stead of twenty- five...you put a closer on the...

LEVENE ...I, if you'd listen to me. Please. I closed the cocksucker. His ex, John, his ex, I didn't know he was married...he, the judge invalidated the...

2.

WILLIAMSON Shelly...

LEVENE ...and what is that, John? What? Bad luck. That's all it is. I pray in your life you will never find it runs in streaks. That's what it does, that's all it's doing. Streaks. I pray it misses you. That's all I want to say.

WILLIAMSON (pause) What about the other two?

LEVENE What two?

WILLIAMSON Four. You had four leads. One kicked out, one the judge, you say...

LEVENE ...you want to see the court records? John? Eh? You want to go down...

WILLIAMSON ...no...

LEVENE ...do you want to go downtown...?

WILLIAMSON ...no...

LEVENE ...then...

WILLIAMSON ...I only...

LEVENE ...then what is this "you say" shit, what is that? (pause) What is that...?

WILLIAMSON All that I'm saying...

3.

LEVENE What is this "you say"? A deal kicks out...I got to eat. Shit, Williamson, shit. You...Moss... Roma...look at the sheets...look at the sheets. Nineteen eighty, eighty-one...eighty-two...six months of eighty-two...who's there? Who's up there?

WILLIAMSON Roma.

LEVENE Under him?

WILLIAMSON Moss.

LEVENE Bullshit. John. Bullshit. April, September 1981. It's me. It isn't fucking Moss. Due respect, he's an order taker, John. He talks, he talks a good game, look at the board, and it's me, John, it's me...

WILLIAMSON Not lately it isn't.

LEVENE Lately kiss my ass lately. That isn't how you build an org...talk, talk to Murray. Talk to Mitch. When we were on Peterson, who paid for his fucking car? You talk to him. The Seville...? He came in, "You bought that for me Shelly." Out of what? Cold calling. Nothing. Sixty-five, when we were there, with Glen Ross Farms? You call 'em downtown. What was that? Luck? That was "luck"? Bullshit, John. You're burning my ass, I can't get a fucking lead...you think that was luck. My stats for those years? Bullshit...over that period of time...? Bullshit. It wasn't luck. It was skill. You want to throw that away, John...? You want to throw that away?

WILLIAMSON It isn't me...

4.

LEVENE ...it isn't you...? Who is it? Who is this I'm talking to? I need the leads...

WILLIAMSON ...after the thirtieth...

LEVENE Bullshit the thirtieth, I don't get on the board the thirtieth, they're going to can my ass. I need the leads. I need them now. Or I'm gone, and you're going to miss me, John, I swear to you.

WILLIAMSON Murray...

LEVENE ...you talk to Murray...

WILLIAMSON I have. And my job is to marshal those leads...

LEVENE Marshal the leads...marshal the leads? What the fuck, what bus did you get off of, we're here to fucking sell. Fuck marshaling the leads. What the fuck talk is that? What the fuck talk is that? Where did you learn that? In school? (pause) That's "talk," my friend, that's "talk." Our job is to sell. I'm the man to sell. I'm getting garbage. (pause) You're giving it to me, and what I'm saying is it's fucked.

WILLIAMSON You're saying that I'm fucked.

LEVENE Yes. (pause) I am. I'm sorry to antagonize you.

WILLIAMSON Let me...

5.

LEVENE ...and I'm going to get bounced and you're...

WILLIAMSON ...let me...are you listening to me...?

LEVENE Yes.

WILLIAMSON Let me tell you something, Shelly. I do what I'm hired to do. I'm...wait a second. I'm hired to watch the leads. I'm given...hold on, I'm given a policy. My job is to do that. What I'm told. That's it. You, wait a second, anybody falls below a certain mark I'm not permitted to give them the premium leads.

LEVENE Then how do they come up above that mark? With dreck...? That's nonsense. Explain this to me. 'Cause it's a waste, and it's a stupid waste. I want to tell you something...

WILLIAMSON You know what those leads cost?

LEVENE The premium leads. Yes. I know what they cost. John. Because I, I generated the dollar revenue sufficient to buy them. Nineteen senny-nine, you know what I made? Senny-nine? Ninety-six thousand dollars. John? For Murray... For Mitch...look at the sheets...

WILLIAMSON Murray said...

LEVENE Fuck him. Fuck Murray. John? You know? You tell him I said so. What does he fucking know? He's going to have a "sales" contest...you know what our sales contest used to be? (MORE)

6.

LEVENE (CONT'D) Money. A fortune. Money lying on the ground. Murray? When was the last time he went out on a sit? Sales contest? It's laughable. It's cold out there now, John. It's tight. Money is tight. This ain't sixty-five. It ain't. It just ain't. See? See? Now, I'm a good man--but I need a...

LEVENE (CONT'D) I've seen those leads. I saw them when I was at Homestead, we pitched those cocksuckers Rio Rancho nineteen sixty-nine they wouldn't buy. They couldn't buy a fucking toaster. They're broke, John. They're cold. They're deadbeats, you can't judge on that. Even so. Even so. Alright. Fine. Fine. Even so. I go in, FOUR FUCKING LEADS they got their money in a sock. They're fucking Polacks, John. Four leads. I close two. Two. Fifty per...

WILLIAMSON ...they kicked out.

LEVENE They all kick out. You run in streaks, pal. Streaks. I'm... I'm...don't look at the board, look at me. Shelly Levene. Anyone. Ask them on Western. Ask Getz at Homestead. Go ask Jerry Graff. You know who I am...I NEED A SHOT. I got to get on the fucking board. Ask them. Ask them. Ask them who ever picked up a check I was flush. Moss, Jerry Graff, Mitch himself...Those guys lived on the business I brought in. They lived on it...and so did Murray, John. You were here you'd of benefited from it too. And now I'm saying this. Do I want charity? Do I want pity? I want sits. I want leads that don't come right out of a phone book. Give me a lead hotter than that, I'll go in and close it. Give me a chance. That's all I want. I'm going to get up on that fucking board and all I want is a chance. It's a streak and I'm going to turn it around. (pause) I need your help.

Pause.

WILLIAMSON I can't do it, Shelly.

8.

Pause.

LEVENE Why?

WILLIAMSON The leads are assigned randomly...

LEVENE Bullshit, bullshit, you assign them... What are you telling me?

WILLIAMSON ...apart from the top men on the contest board.

LEVENE Then put me on the board.

WILLIAMSON You start closing again, you'll be on the board.

LEVENE I can't close these leads, John. No one can. It's a joke. John, look, just give me a hot lead. Just give me two of the premium leads. As a "test," alright? As a "test" and I promise you...

WILLIAMSON I can't do it, Shel.

Pause.

LEVENE I'll give you ten percent.

Pause.

WILLIAMSON Of what?

LEVENE And what if you don't close.

LEVENE I will close.

WILLIAMSON What if you don't close...?

9.

LEVENE I will close.

WILLIAMSON What if you don't? Then I'm fucked. You see...? Then it's my job. That's what I'm telling you.

LEVENE I will close. John, John, ten percent. I can get hot. You know that...

WILLIAMSON Not lately you can't...

LEVENE Fuck that. That's defeatist. Fuck that. Fuck it...Get on my side. Go with me. Let's do something. You want to run this office, run it.

WILLIAMSON Twenty percent.

Pause.

LEVENE Alright.

WILLIAMSON And fifty bucks a lead.

LEVENE John. (pause) Listen. I want to talk to you. Permit me to do this a second. I'm older than you. A man acquires a reputation. On the street. What he does when he's up, what he does otherwise...I said "ten," you said "no." You said "twenty." I said "fine," I'm not going to fuck with you, how can I beat that, you tell me?...Okay. Okay. We'll...Okay. Fine. We'll...Alright, twenty percent, and fifty bucks a lead. That's fine. For now. That's fine. A month or two we'll talk. A month from now. Next month. After the thirtieth. (pause) We'll talk.

10.

WILLIAMSON What are we going to say?

LEVENE No. You're right. That's for later. We'll talk in a month. What have you got? I want two sits. Tonight.

WILLIAMSON I'm not sure I have two.

LEVENE I saw the board. You've got four...

WILLIAMSON (snaps) I've got Roma. Then I've got Moss...

LEVENE Bullshit. They ain't been in the office yet. Give 'em some stiff. We have a deal or not? Eh? Two sits. The Des Plaines. Both of 'em, six and ten, you can do it...six and ten...eight and eleven, I don't give a shit, you set 'em up? Alright? The two sits in Des Plaines.

WILLIAMSON Alright.

LEVENE Good. Now we're talking.

Pause.

WILLIAMSON A hundred bucks.

Pause.

LEVENE Now? (pause) Now?

WILLIAMSON Now. (pause) Yes...When?

11.

LEVENE Ah, shit, John.

Pause.

WILLIAMSON I wish I could.

LEVENE You fucking asshole. (pause) I haven't got it. (pause) I haven't got it, John. (pause) I'll pay you tomorrow. (pause) I'm coming in here with the sales, I'll pay you tomorrow. (pause) I haven't got it, when I pay, the gas...I get back the hotel, I'll bring it in tomorrow.

WILLIAMSON Can't do it.

LEVENE I'll give you thirty on them now, I'll bring the rest tomorrow. I've got it at the hotel. (pause) John? (pause) We do that, for chrissake?

LEVENE Well, I want to tell you something, fella, wasn't long I could pick up the phone, call Murray and I'd have your job. You know that? Not too long ago. For what? For nothing. "Mur, this new kid burns my ass." "Shelly, he's out." You're gone before I'm back from lunch. I bought him a trip to Bermuda once...

WILLIAMSON I have to go... (gets up)

LEVENE Wait. Alright. Fine. (starts going in pocket for money) The one. Give me the lead. Give me the one lead. The best one you have.

WILLIAMSON I can't split them.

Pause.

LEVENE Why?

WILLIAMSON Because I say so.

LEVENE (pause) Is that it? Is that it? You want to do business that way...?

Williamson gets up, leaves money on the table.

LEVENE You want to do business that way...? Alright. Alright. Alright. Alright. What is there on the other list...?

WILLIAMSON You want something off the B list?

LEVENE Yeah. Yeah.

13.

WILLIAMSON Is that what you're saying?

LEVENE That's what I'm saying. Yeah. (pause) I'd like something off the other list. Which, very least, that I'm entitled to. If I'm still working here, which for the moment I guess that I am. (pause) What? I'm sorry I spoke harshly to you.

WILLIAMSON That's alright.

LEVENE The deal still stands, our other thing.

Williamson shrugs. Starts out of the booth.

LEVENE Good. Mmm. I, you know, I left my wallet back at the hotel.

SCENE TWO

A booth at the restaurant. Moss and Aaronow seated. Afterthe meal.

MOSS Polacks and deadbeats.

AARONOW ...Polacks...

MOSS Deadbeats all.

AARONOW ...they hold on to their money...

MOSS All of 'em. They, hey: it happens to us all.

AARONOW Where am I going to work?

14.

MOSS You have to cheer up, George, you aren't out yet.

AARONOW I'm not?

MOSS You missed a fucking sale. Big deal. A deadbeat Polack. Big deal. How you going to sell 'em in the first place...? Your mistake, you shoun'a took the lead.

AARONOW I had to.

MOSS You had to, yeah. Why?

AARONOW To get on the...

MOSS To get on the board. Yeah. How you goan'a get on the board sell'n a Polack? And I'll tell you, I'll tell you what else. You listening? I'll tell you what else: don't ever try to sell an Indian.

AARONOW I'd never try to sell an Indian.

MOSS You get those names come up, you ever get 'em, "Patel?"

AARONOW Mmm...

MOSS You ever get 'em?

AARONOW Well, I think I had one once.

MOSS You did?

AARONOW I...I don't know.

15.

MOSS You had one you'd know it. Patel. They keep coming up. I don't know. They like to talk to salesmen. (pause) They're lonely, something. (pause) They like to feel superior, I don't know. Never bought a fucking thing. You're sitting down "The Rio Rancho this, the blah blah blah," "The Mountain View--" "Oh yes. My brother told me that..." They got a grapevine. Fuckin' Indians, George. Not my cup of tea. Speaking of which I want to tell you something: (pause) I never got a cup of tea with them. You see them in the restaurants. A supercilious race. What is this look on their face all the time? I don't know. (pause) I don't know. Their broads all look like they just got fucked with a dead cat, I don't know. (pause) I don't know. I don't like it. Christ...

AARONOW What?

MOSS The whole fuckin' thing...The pressure's just too great. You're ab...you're absolu...they're too important. All of them. You go in the door. I..."I got to close this fucker, or I don't eat lunch," "or I don't win the Cadillac..." We fuckin' work too hard. You work too hard. We all, I remember when we were at Platt...huh? Glen Ross Farms... didn't we sell a bunch of that..."

AARONOW They came in and they, you know...

MOSS Well, they fucked it up.

16.

AARONOW They did.

MOSS They killed the goose.

AARONOW They did.

MOSS And now...

AARONOW We're stuck with this...

MOSS We're stuck with this fucking shit...

AARONOW ...this shit...

MOSS It's too...

AARONOW It is.

MOSS Eh?

AARONOW It's too...

MOSS You get a bad month, all of a...

AARONOW You're on this...

MOSS All of, they got you on this "board..."

AARONOW I, I...I...

MOSS Some contest board...

AARONOW I...

MOSS It's not right.

17.

AARONOW It's not.

MOSS No.

Pause.

AARONOW And it's not right to the customers.

MOSS I know it's not. I'll tell you, you got, you know, you got...what did I learn as a kid on Western? Don't sell a guy one car. Sell him five cars over fifteen years.

MOSS You know who it is. It's Mitch. And Murray. 'Cause it doesn't have to be this way.

AARONOW No.

MOSS Look at Jerry Graff. He's clean, he's doing business for himself, he's got his, that list of his with the nurses...see? You see? That's thinking. Why take ten percent? A ten percent comm...why are we giving the rest away? What are we giving ninety per...for nothing. For some jerk sit in the office tell you "Get out there and close." "Go win the Cadillac." Graff. He goes out and buys. He pays top dollar for the... you see?

MOSS So Graff buys a fucking list of nurses, one grand--if he paid two I'll eat my hat--four, five thousand nurses, and he's going wild...

AARONOW He is?

MOSS He's doing very well.

AARONOW I heard that they were running cold.

MOSS The nurses?

AARONOW Yes.

MOSS You hear a lot of things...He's doing very well. He's doing very well.

AARONOW With River Oaks?

MOSS River Oaks, Brook Farms. All of that shit. Somebody told me, you know what he's clearing himself? Fourteen, fifteen grand a week.

AARONOW Himself?

20.

MOSS That's what I'm saying. Why? The leads. He's got the good leads... what are we, we're sitting in the shit here. Why? We have to go to them to get them. Huh. Ninety percent our sale, we're paying to the office for the leads.

AARONOW The leads, the overhead, the telephones, there's lots of things.

MOSS What do you need? A telephone, some broad to say "Good morning," nothing...nothing...

AARONOW No, it's not that simple, Dave...

MOSS Yes. It is. It is simple, and you know what the hard part is?

AARONOW What?

MOSS Starting up.

AARONOW What hard part?

MOSS Of doing the thing. The dif...the difference. Between me and Jerry Graff. Going to business for yourself. The hard part is...you know what it is?

AARONOW What?

MOSS Just the act.

AARONOW What act?

21.

MOSS To say "I'm going on my own." 'Cause what you do, George, let me tell you what you do: you find yourself in thrall to someone else. And we enslave ourselves. To please. To win some fucking toaster...to...to... and the guy who got there first made up those...

AARONOW That's right...

MOSS He made up those rules, and we're working for him.

AARONOW That's the truth...

MOSS That's the God's truth. And it gets me depressed. I swear that it does. At MY AGE. To see a goddamn: "Somebody wins the Cadillac this month. P.S. Two guys get fucked."

AARONOW Huh.

MOSS You don't ax your sales force.

AARONOW No.

MOSS You...

AARONOW You...

MOSS You build it!

AARONOW That's what I...

MOSS You fucking build it! Men come...

AARONOW Men come work for you...

22.

MOSS ...you're absolutely right.

AARONOW They...

MOSS They have...

AARONOW When they...

MOSS Look look look look, when they build your business, then you can't fucking turn around, enslave them, treat them like children, fuck them up the ass, leave them to fend for themselves... no. (pause) No. (pause) You're absolutely right, and I want to tell you something.

MOSS That's what I'm saying. We were, if we were that kind of guys, to knock it off, and trash the joint, it looks like robbery, and take the fuckin' leads out of the files...go to Jerry Graff.

Long pause.

AARONOW What could somebody get for them?

MOSS What could we get for them? I don't know. Buck a throw...buck-a- half a throw...I don't know...Hey, who knows what they're worth, what do they pay for them? All told...must be, I'd... three bucks a throw...I don't know.

MOSS However they are, that's the deal. A buck a throw. Five thousand dollars. Split it half and half.

AARONOW You're saying "me."

MOSS Yes. (pause) Twenty-five hundred apiece. One night's work, and the job with Graff. Working the premium leads.

Pause.

AARONOW A job with Graff.

MOSS Is that what I said?

AARONOW He'd give me a job.

MOSS He would take you on. Yes.

Pause.

AARONOW Is that the truth?

28.

MOSS Yes. It is, George. (pause) Yes. It's a big decision. (pause) And it's a big reward. (pause) It's a big reward. For one night's work. (pause) But it's got to be tonight.

AARONOW What?

MOSS What? What? The leads.

AARONOW You have to steal the leads tonight?

MOSS That's right, the guys are moving them downtown. After the thirtieth. Murray and Mitch. After the contest.

AARONOW You're, you're saying so you have to go in there tonight and...

MOSS You...

AARONOW I'm sorry?

MOSS You.

Pause.

AARONOW Me?

MOSS You have to go in. (pause) You have to get the leads.

Pause.

AARONOW I do?

29.

MOSS Yes.

AARONOW I...

MOSS It's not something for nothing, George, I took you in on this, you have to go. That's your thing. I've made the deal with Graff. I can't go. I can't go in, I've spoken on this too much. I've got a big mouth. (pause) "The fucking leads" et cetera, blah blah blah "...the fucking tight ass company..."

AARONOW They'll know when you go over to Graff...

MOSS What will they know? That I stole the leads? I didn't steal the leads, I'm going to the movies tonight with a friend, and then I'm going to the Como Inn. Why did I go to Graff? I got a better deal. Period. Let 'em prove something. They can't prove anything that's not the case.

Pause.

AARONOW Dave.

MOSS Yes.

AARONOW You want me to break into the office tonight and steal the leads?

MOSS Yes.

Pause.

AARONOW No.

30.

MOSS Oh, yes, George.

AARONOW What does that mean?

MOSS Listen to this. I have an alibi, I'm going to the Como Inn, why? Why? The place gets robbed, they're going to come looking for me. Why? Because I probably did it. Are you going to turn me in? (pause) George? Are you going to turn me in?

MOSS Then listen to this: I have to get those leads tonight. That's something I have to do. If I'm not at the movies...if I'm not eating over at the inn...If you don't do this, then I have to come in here...

AARONOW Why are you doing this to me, Dave. Why are you talking this way to me? I don't understand. Why are you doing this at all...?

MOSS That's none of your fucking business...

32.

AARONOW Well, well, well, talk to me, we sat down to eat dinner, and here I'm a criminal...

MOSS You went for it.

AARONOW In the abstract...

MOSS So I'm making it concrete.

AARONOW Why?

MOSS Why? Why you going to give me five grand?

AARONOW Do you need five grand?

MOSS Is that what I just said?

AARONOW You need money? Is that the...

MOSS Hey, hey, let's just keep it simple, what I need is not the...what do you need...?

AARONOW What is the five grand? (pause) What is the, you said that we were going to split five...

MOSS I lied. (pause) Alright? My end is my business. Your end's twenty-five. In or out. You tell me, you're out you take the consequences.

AARONOW I do?

MOSS Yes.

33.

Pause.

AARONOW And why is that?

MOSS Because you listened.

SCENE THREE

The restaurant. Roma is seated alone at the booth. Lingkis at the booth next to him. Roma is talking to him.

ROMA ...all train compartments smell vaguely of shit. It gets so you don't mind it. That's the worst thing that I can confess. You know how long it took me to get there? A long time. When you die you're going to regret the things you don't do. You think you're queer...? I'm going to tell you something: we're all queer. You think that you're a thief? So what? You get befuddled by a middle-class morality...? Get shut of it. Shut it out. You cheated on your wife...? You did it, live with it. (pause) You fuck little girls, so be it. There's an absolute morality? May be. And then what? If you think there is, then be that thing. Bad people go to hell? I don't think so. If you think that, act that way. A hell exists on earth? Yes. I won't live in it. That's me. You ever take a dump made you feel you'd just slept for twelve hours...?

LINGK Did I...?

ROMA Yes.

LINGK I don't know.

34.

ROMA Or a piss...? A great meal fades in reflection. Everything else gains. You know why? 'Cause it's only food. This shit we eat, it keeps us going. But it's only food. The great fucks that you may have had. What do you remember about them?

LINGK What do I...?

ROMA Yes.

LINGK Mmmm...

ROMA I don't know. For me, I'm saying, what is is, it's probably not the orgasm. Some broads, forearms on your neck, something her eyes did. There was a sound she made...or, me, lying, in the, I'll tell you: me lying in bed; the next day she brought me caf� au lait. She gives me a cigarette, my balls feel like concrete. Eh? What I'm saying, what is our life? (pause) It's looking forward or it's looking back. And that's our life. That's it. Where is the moment? (pause) And what is it that we're afraid of? Loss. What else? (pause) The bank closes. We get sick, my wife died on a plane, the stock market collapsed...the house burnt down...what of these happen...? None on 'em. We worry anyway. What does this mean? I'm not secure. How can I be secure? (pause) Through amassing wealth beyond all measure? No. And what's beyond all measure? That's a sickness. That's a trap. There is no measure. Only greed. How can we act? (MORE)

35.

ROMA (CONT'D) The right way, we would say, to deal with this: "There is a one-in- a-million chance that so and so will happen...Fuck it, it won't happen to me..." No. We know that's not the right way I think. (pause) We say the correct way to deal with this is "There is a one-in-so-and- so chance this will happen...God protect me. I am powerless, let it not happen to me..." But no to that. I say. There's something else. What is it? "If it happens, AS IT MAY for that is not within our powers, I will deal with it, just as I do today with what draws my concern today." I say this is how we must act. I do those things which seem correct to me today. I trust myself. And if security concerns me, I do that which today I think will make me secure. And every day I do that, when that day arrives that I need a reserve, [a] odds are that I have it, and [b] the true reserve that I have is the strength that I have of acting each day without fear. (pause) According to the dictates of my mind. (pause) Stocks, bonds, objects of art, real estate. Now: what are they? (pause) An opportunity. To what? To make money? Perhaps. To lose money? Perhaps. To "indulge" and to "learn" about ourselves? Perhaps. So fucking what? What isn't? They're an opportunity. That's all. They're an event. A guy comes up to you, you make a call, you send in a brochure, it doesn't matter, "There're these properties I'd like for you to see." What does it mean? What you want it to mean. (MORE)

36.

ROMA (CONT'D) (pause) Money? (pause) If that's what it signifies to you. Security? (pause) Comfort? (pause) All it is is THINGS THAT HAPPEN TO YOU. (pause) That's all it is. How are they different? (pause) Some poor newly married guy gets run down by a cab. Some busboy wins the lottery. (pause) All it is, it's a carnival. What's special...what draws us? (pause) We're all different. (pause) We'&lt